Apparatus for forming the crust of a pie

ABSTRACT

A method for forming the crust of a pie, particularly a pizza pie, by rolling the crust to a predetermined thickness, placing the rolled crust over a pie pan, pressing the crust to the bottom of the pie pan by a disc-shaped platen, forming the sides of the pie by placing a contoured forming tool against the top of the disc-shaped platen and rolling the preformed roller around the edge of the pie forcing the edge of the pie against the side of the pie pan. The pie is trimmed by having a second roller which contains a circular or disc knife. Thus the axis of the disc knife is parallel to the bottom of the pie pan and spaced a predetermined distance above the disc-shaped platen. The disc cutter is placed against the top of the platen in the same manner as the knife forming roller and rotated around the edge of the pie pan in a manner to trim the excess dough from the pie. The cut is made slightly below the top surface of the pan.

United States Patent Norman Feb. 13, 1973 APPARATUS FOR FORMING THE-CRUST OF A PIE Filed:

lnventor: Harold E. Norman, Ponca City,

Okla.

I April 20, 1970 Appl. No.: 30,065

U.S. Cl. ..425/293, 425/317, 425/394,

Int. Cl. ..A21c 11/10 Field of Search.....l07/1 E, 4 C,'49, 15 R, 15 A,

Thode [07/50 FOREIGN PATENTS OR APPLICATIONS 511,648 8/1939 GreatBritain ..30/3 19 1,055,780 4/1959 Germany l ..99/349 323,924 1/1930Great Britain 107/1 E Primary Examiner-Jordan Franklin AssistantExamineF-George H. Krizmanich Attorney-William .1. Miller and Dunlap &Laney [57] ABSTRACT A method for forming the crust of a pie,particularly a pizza pie, by rolling the crust to a predeterminedthickness, placing the rolled crust over a pie pan, pressing the crustto the bottom of the pie pan by a disc-shaped platen, forming the sidesof the pie by placing a contoured forming tool against the top of thedisc-shaped platen and rolling the preformed roller around the edge ofthe pie forcing the edge of the pie against the side of the pie pan. Thepie is trimmed by having a second roller which contains a circular ordisc knife. Thus the axis of the disc knife is parallel to the bottom ofthe pie pan and spaced a predetermined distance above the disc-shapedplaten. The disc cutter is placed against the top of the platen in thesame manner as the knife forming roller androtated around the edge ofthe pie pan in a manner to trim the excess dough from the pie. The cutis made slightly below the top surface of the pan.

4 Claims, 6 Drawing Figures PATHH'LU 1 31375 FIG. 3

FIG. 4

F m w 0 W n M6 6 M WF I.

INVENTOR. HAROLD E. NORMAN FIG. 5

// Arrok/vsy APPARATUS FOR FORMING THE CRUST OF A PIE BRIEF DESCRIPTIONOF PRIOR ART Background of the Invention Prior to'the method describedherein, a pizza pie, for example, was formed by rolling dough to aprescribed thickness, placing the dough over the pie pan and pressingthe dough into the pie pan by the use of hands. When the dough wasformed to the bottom and sides of the pan, either a knife or a rollerwas used to cut the excess dough from around the pie pan. Since the topedge of the dough will burn if it is not pressed slightly below the topedge of the pie pan, usually the dough was pushed down slightly. All ofthe hand manipulation of the dough took an excessive amount of time toprepare a pizza pie crust; therefore, it is the object of this inventionto describe a method and apparatus for forming the crust of a pizza piethat can be done uniformly and rapidly. It is the further object of thisinvention to describe an apparatus that can form the bottom of a piecrust, in many cases without requiring additional forming of the sides.It is a still further object of this invention to provide a method fortrimming a pizza pie slightly below the top edge of the pie pan so thatthe crust will not be submitted to excessive heat resulting in the crustbeing burnt. It is a still further object of this invention to describea combination tool that will form the crust to the side of the piepanand trim the crust slightly below the top edge of the pie pan in asingle operation.

This and other objects will be evident when reference is made to thespecification in drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES FIG. 1 shows a perspective view of thedisc-shaped platen used to form the bottom of the crust.

FIG. 2'shows a side view of the rotatable side-forming tool.

FIG. 3 shows a side view of the cutting tool, while FIG. 4 is across-sectional view of the platen shown in FIG. 1 and the tool in FIG.3 in actual operation and FIG. 5 shows a combination forming tool andcutting tool in use.

FIG. 6 is another form of platen shown in FIG. 1, shown in partial crosssection.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE METHOD AND APPARATUS Referring to FIG. 1,the bottom-forming platen is shown comprising a disc 10 having aplurality of holes 11 formed therethrough. A handle 12 is attachedcentrally to the disc to form a means for pushing the dough to thebottom of a pan and for removing the disc once the dough has beenformed.

FIG. 2 shows a side-forming tool and essentially comprises a contouredpartial cone frustum 14 having a handle 15 rotatably attached to thecone portion 14 by means of a screw 16 shown in dotted lines. The sidewall 17 of cone 16 is tapered to conform to the taper of the pan wherethe dough is placed.

FIG. 3 discloses a cutting tool comprising a spacer 20, a cutting edge21 rotatibly attached to spacer and the handle 22. Spacer 20, cutter 21,and handle 22 are axially secured by a screw 23 shown in dotted lines.Rotating cutter 21 is disc in shape and sharpened at its outer edge 25.

The method of forming the pizza crust is described with reference toFIGS. 4 and 5. Referring in particular to FIG. 4, a pie pan 26 hasplaced over it a quantity of pre-rolled dough 27. The dough should havesufficient size to completely cover the pan and generally is rolled to apredetermined thickness. Once the dough is placed over the pan, theplaten 10 is placed centrally over the dough and pressed rapidlydownward. The proper platen has previously been selected and should beof a diameter approximately the size of the bottom of the pie pan. Thetotal diameter should be less than the diameter of the pie pan bytwice'the thickness of the crust. When the platen is placed over thecrust and forced downward, the crust will be firmly pressed against thebottom of the pan and, since the platen is approximately the size of theinterior of the pizza pie, the bottom will be completely formed andflat. On many occassions in small pizza pies, the sides willautomatically form or can be formed by a quick motion of the fingerswithout additional forming with rollers such as shown in FIG. 2;however, for some crusts and for larger pans, it is preferable to formthe side into a smooth, conicle contour by use of the roller shown inFIG. 2.

The roller in. FIG. 2 is placed against the platen sothat the bottom 30of roller edge 17 is placed against the top 31 of platen I0. Graspinghandle 15, the roller edge 17 is then pushed against the dough androlled about the pan. This will form a continuous smooth surface on theinner wall of the dough urging it tightly against the inner wall of thepan- 26'. The third step requires cutting the excess dough from thecrust. For this purpose, a cutter such as that shown in FIG. 3 is used.As in the case with the roller shown in FIG. 2, the handle 22 is graspedand the bottom 24 of spacer 20 is placed against the top 31 of platenand cutting edge 25 is then pressed through the dough 27 and against theinner wall of pan 26. The cutter is then rotated about the pan keepingthe pressure against the inner wall of pan 26 at all times. The doughwill then be cut forming an edge 40 below the upper rim 41 of pan 26.The height of spacer 20, that is the distance between the bottom 24 andcutting edge 25, is adjusted so that the cutting edge 25 will clip thedough just below the top edge 41 of pan 26. This distance between 24 and25 is determined by the thickness of dough 27, the thickness of platen10, and the height 41 of pan 26. Various spacers such as 24a, 24b or 240can be used to adjust the overall height, depending upon the particularpan being cut. These spacers can be added mechanically by snapping themtogether, or they can be added by simply loosening screw 23, adding aspacer and reinserting the screw into handle 22. Since all of thespacers and blade in handle rotate freely, the spacers need not bephysically connected either to each other or to the blade 21. Referringto FIG. 5, a combination, shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, is shown. Instead of aspacer 20, the roller 14 is substituted. Above the roller 14 is cuttingdisc 21 and handle 22, which is attached in the usual manner by means ofa screw not shown.

Holes 11 through platen 10 provide for escape of the air between theupper surface of the dough and the under surface of platen 10. The holesalso provide for a vacuum relief so that when platen 10 is lifted, itwill not pull the dough up with the platen because of the vacuumunderneath the platen a rough surface 13 on the underneath surface ofthe platen can be used to prevent the formation of vacuum, instead ofusing the holes 11, see FIG. 6.

The materials used in the construction of the tools of this inventionare not critical. The platen may be constructed of aluminum, plastic orsilicone-coated plastic or teflon-coated plastic. The main pre-requisiteof the platen is that it have sufficient mechanical strength to forcethe dough into conformity with the bottom of the pan. If the material istoo flexible, it will deform and not cause proper forming of the doughat the bottom. The platen also performs a second useful function, sincethe upper surface of the platen forms the sliding base for the formingtool and the cut-off tool. Thus, the platen in combination with thecut-off tools, shown in FIGS. 2, 3, or 5, makes a useful means for theformation of a crust for a pizza. The cutting edge 25 is preferrablymade of a hard substance such as tempered steel; however, plastic ofsufficient strength could be used. One advantage to the coating of thematerials with tefion, for example the bottom and sides of platen llll,is that the dough will not adhere readily to a material such as teflon.

These and other advantages of this method and apparatus can beappreciated and modifications can be made within the spirited scope ofthis invention as disclosed and claimed in the appending claims.

What I claim is:

1. An apparatus for forming a pizza pie crust comprising a pan having abottom and side wall and an upper edge, a platenhaving a dimensionslightly less than the inner dimension of said pan, said platen having asmooth upper surface, said pla'ten further having vacuum relievingmeans, and means slidably engaging the smooth upper surface of saidplaten and engaging the side wall below the upper edge for trimming piecrust slightly below the upper edge of said pan.

2. A device as described in claim 1 wherein said means for trimming theupper edge of pie crust slightly below the top edge of said pancomprises a disc slidably engaging the upper surface of said platen, ahandle, a circular cutting tool axially attached between said handle andsaid disc.

3. Apparatus for forming a crust in a pan for a pizza pie, saidapparatus comprising in combination a pan having a side wall and a topedge, a platen having a dimension slightly less than the inner dimensionof said pan, a handle attached to one side of said platen, and vacuumrelieving means in said platen; and a cut-off means comprising a spacerfitting against the handle attaching side of said platen and slidablyengaging said handle attaching side of said platen and a cut-off meansspaced above said spacer, the thickness of said spacer placing saidcut-off means slightly below the said top edge of said pan.

4. A device is described in claim 3 and additionally including incombination a roller means adapted to slide against the handle attachingsurface of said platen, the outer edge of said rolling means having acontour substantially identical to that of the inner wall of said panand a height equal to or greater than the distance from the handleattaching surface of said platen to the top edge of said pan when saidplaten is in use.

1. An apparatus for forming a pizza pie crust comprising a pan having abottom and side wall and an upper edge, a platen having a dimensionslightly less than the inner dimension of said pan, said platen having asmooth upper surface, said platen further having vacuum relieving means,and means slidably engaging the smooth upper surface of said platen andengaging the side wall below the upper edge for trimming pie crustslightly below the upper edge of said pan.
 1. An apparatus for forming apizza pie crust comprising a pan having a bottom and side wall and anupper edge, a platen having a dimension slightly less than the innerdimension of said pan, said platen having a smooth upper surface, saidplaten further having vacuum relieving means, and means slidablyengaging the smooth upper surface of said platen and engaging the sidewall below the upper edge for trimming pie crust slightly below theupper edge of said pan.
 2. A device as described in claim 1 wherein saidmeans for trimming the upper edge of pie crust slightly below the topedge of said pan comprises a disc slidably engaging the upper surface ofsaid platen, a handle, a circular cutting tool axially attached betweensaid handle and said disc.
 3. Apparatus for forming a crust in a pan fora pizza pie, said apparatus comprising in combination a pan having aside wall and a top edge, a platen having a dimension slightly less thanthe inner dimension of said pan, a handle attached to one side of saidplaten, and vacuum relieving means in said platen; and a cut-off meanscomprising a spacer fitting against the handle attaching side of saidplaten and slidably engaging said handle attaching side of said platenand a cut-off means spaced above said spacer, the thickness of saidspacer placing said cut-off means slightly below the said top edge ofsaid pan.